Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,768,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 64,961 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Pacific Gas & Electric worth $47,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 55.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 77,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 431.2% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2,816 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 738.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 176,043 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,024,000 after acquiring an additional 155,052 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 138.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 254,549 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,373,000 after acquiring an additional 147,964 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total transaction of $562,578.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 151,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,614,306.80. The trade was a 17.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PCG. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.73.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.51. 28,091,098 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,579,249. The company has a market cap of $36.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.55. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 1 year low of $13.34 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $15.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 9.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Pacific Gas & Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.17%.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.